Resonance
by Cassandra Mulder
Summary: Whenever he was near, she was drawn to him, and unfortunately he hadn't been near in quite some time.


Title: Resonance  
  
Author: Cassandra Mulder  
  
Feedback: cassandra_mulder@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Spoilers: Maybe a bit for X-Men, but none for X2.  
  
Classification: X-Men Movieverse; Rogue/Wolverine; angst  
  
Disclaimer: X-Men and the characters within do not belong to me. It all belongs to Marvel Comics & 20th Century Fox, with all due credit to the lovely portrayals by the equally lovely Hugh and Anna. None of this is their fault. ;) We won't get into how I'd like to kidnap Logan...  
  
Written: June 7 - 21, 2003  
  
Summary: Whenever he was near, she was drawn to him, and unfortunately he hadn't been near in quite some time.  
  
Archive: Bound http://www.geocities.com/cassandra_mulder  
  
Distribution: Anywhere, please just ask permission first.  
  
Author's Notes: This isn't exactly AU, but it ain't canon either, so think what you will... ;) I guess it comes down to a "giving back the tags" fic, but basically it was borne of an angsty mood, and this scene in the night that started playing in my head.  
  
Dedication: To Katy, who read this over, gave me a glowing review, and encouraged me immensely. *hugs*  
  
*****  
  
Marie looked across the room at Logan for the hundreth time in two hours. She couldn't help it. Whenever he was near, she was drawn to him, and unfortunately he hadn't been near in quite some time.  
  
In his absence she'd done her best to busy herself by catching up with her studies and making new friends, but on the inside she'd been quietly going mad awaiting his return. Wearing the dogtag he'd given her had become routine, and she was still waiting for a chance to give it back to him. He'd been virtually surrounded since his return four days ago, and she desperately wanted a word with him alone.  
  
She desperately wanted so many things with him...  
  
Oh, she'd heard the whispered, "Rogue fancies Logan" comments shared between Storm and Jean, and if they wanted to think she was suffering nothing more than a silly schoolgirl crush, then there was nothing she could do to convince them otherwise.  
  
But it had been three years, she was twenty years old, and not one thing she'd felt about Logan had changed. Nothing had changed - except perhaps her feelings were stronger now. She knew what it felt like to live without him, and she didn't like that feeling at all. She'd missed him more than any of the others could comprehend.  
  
She didn't have a clue if he'd missed her at all. If he had, he sure had some way of showing it.  
  
The little gathering about to close in on her, Marie went out the French doors into the garden. Everything in there was getting to her - the noise, the crowd, not being able to keep her eyes off Logan...  
  
She turned around and sought him out again, and he was closer this time, somewhere around the middle of the room. Only this time as she let her gaze linger, he looked up and caught her. She wouldn't look away. She was tired of playing innocent, tired of pretending she hadn't waited the last three years for him to resurface at his leisure, tired of feeling him when she knew he wasn't there.  
  
Because he'd saved her life twice, a part of him lived inside of her, and there was nothing she could do to ease that constant torture. She knew, she'd tried.  
  
She saw the look in his eyes, knew he was extremely uncomfortable being the impromptu center of attention. But she wouldn't risk going back in there to rescue him, looking like a fool. If he wanted out, if he wanted to see her, he'd simply have to manage on his own.  
  
She merely quirked an eyebrow at him and turned around, wandering further along the rows of enormous rosebushes. She had every doubt he'd come after her, but it didn't really matter. Right now she needed the quiet and the cool night air even more than she needed him. Being around him made her head buzz in many ways, not all of them bad.  
  
All of the sudden the buzzing started again, and she heard, "Hey, kid" not five feet behind her.  
  
Her brown eyes flashed briefly as she spun to face him and said, "I'm not a kid."  
  
What? Did he really think she'd just fling herself in his arms after he'd ignored her for the last four days? She could be as unforgiving as he could now, if she wanted.  
  
He lit a cigar while giving her a once-over, and replied, "No, guess not. Rogue's all grown up now."  
  
"Don't patronize me, Logan," she said softly, her drawl still existent, though she hadn't been home in years.  
  
"I'm not, Marie," he said. His voice was too even for her to tell if he was slightly amused or just annoyed.  
  
Marie was unconciously toying with the dogtag around her neck, and she flushed scarlet when she realized its owner was watching her.  
  
"I came back for that," he said with a slight nod.  
  
Was that all he could say? After all they'd been through and him ditching her for three years, that's all he could say? Well, if his blasted dogtag was all he was worried about, she could easily take care of that and let him be on his way.  
  
This was hardly what Logan had planned when he began his journey back to the mansion. To say he'd screwed up his return would be a gross understatement.  
  
But the big, bad Wolverine had no clue what to say to this girl - no, she was definitely a woman now - in front of him without spilling his guts, baring his soul, and every other awful cliché he could think of. So instead he'd gone with the gruff, detached approach.  
  
And that, it seemed, had pissed both him and Marie off for vastly different reasons.  
  
She was now removing the chain from around her neck, carefully avoiding her hair as she pulled it over her head. She roughly thrust it into his hand, but he caught hers before she could pull away.  
  
She could feel the warmth of his hand seeping through her thin glove, and she paused, looking briefly at their joined hands before looking up at his eyes.  
  
They were different now. Everything was different. He tossed his cigar aside with his free hand, and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  
  
He reached up and caught her silver strands in his hand, just as he had the day he'd left. The day she'd been certain the entire mansion had resonated with the breaking of her heart.  
  
She thought she could feel it breaking now as his fingers ran over her hair, his eyes softening more so that she finally saw the Logan she knew.  
  
The one who had promised to take care of her, when he was a man that didn't make promises. The one who was willing to die so she could live. The one that thought the girl with the deadly skin was worth saving.  
  
He didn't have to say anything. She looked in his eyes and just knew.  
  
Finis 


End file.
